QUOIO Pelletteria Handmade Leather Goods — Local services in Florence

If I could give this shop zero stars, I would. The owner was extremely rude and dismissive. After reading reviews that mentioned custom belt work, I visited the shop to inquire about having a leather belt made for a vintage buckle I had purchased. Before I could even finish explaining what I was looking for, the owner cut me off, mocked me, and said, “I don’t wait around for jobs like this,” before walking away.

This shop claims to specialize in custom leather goods—yet somehow my straightforward request was treated as an inconvenience. Several reviews describe the owner as friendly and helpful, but that was not my experience. I wasn’t greeted with a hello, a welcome, or even a simple goodbye. Nothing. We were the only customers in the store.

It’s hard not to wonder if our treatment had something to do with race. I’m Black. My husband and I were also planning to buy other leather items. Instead, we took our business to another nearby shop, where we were warmly welcomed and ended up purchasing a handbag and a wallet.

There are plenty of leather shops in Florence that value and respect their customers. I strongly recommend supporting one of them instead.

Update: The owner’s response shows a blatant lack of accountability. From this response you can get an idea of what I experienced in the shop. When I was in the shop he never mentioned that my buckle was cheap. I would have loved to be educated about leather and buckles to understand his perspective about quality. Instead, he offered no education. He just dismissed me without an explanation. Inquiring about a SERVICE YOU OFFER is not demanding that you work at my command. I walked in, asked a question, and was immediately dismissed in less than 30 seconds. If you didn’t want to make me a custom belt, you could have directed me to a belt in your shop. I would have gladly purchased something else. And if you can’t do the job, that’s ok, but you don’t have to be rude about it. To accuse a Black woman of being aggressive is racist. Period. And what does any of this have to do with being homophobic? Like I said before, do yourself a favor and take your business elsewhere, especially if you are a person of color. You will not be...

My Daughter visited Florence in April and she wanted to have a gift to bring back with her for some important people in her life. To get the items personalized was going to take too long. She researched and asked around about shops in the area and we were directed to QUOIO. Ciro Brandi was amazing to work with and the craftsmanship of these pieces was so intricate and you can tell there was a lot of care put into them. We had the items shipped to us in Maine, USA and they arrived unscathed and they were even wrapped with care. We will be ordering more products from Ciro Brandi in the future. Everyone loved their gifts and even more it was a piece of her trip sent...

Ciro's shop is the place to go in Firenze for real hand crafted leather goods. We were in Tuscany for a wedding and visited Firenze for 4 days. I always like to purchase something that represents where we travel made by real people out of real local materials. I purchased 3 leather bracelets for me and my two sons who were not on the trip. Ciro made the bracelets and arranged to have them ready for sizing and pick up during our stay. He was very personable and invited us to sit and chat while we waited for the finishing of the bracelets. Excellent products, craftsmanship and experience! Highly recommended if you want real Tuscan...